Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1887-01-04
THE AMERICAN DUEL.
A GERMAN CONTRIBUTOR EXPLAINS
JUST WHAT IT MEANS.

JOS VITA u m2RNS,
Not q Brutal Array In a Darksned Room
Nsr a 'BIsss Away" at short Range.
The Dseision of Fsts - Suicides
Stain.
see the following copied In the The
World from ,ne Of your contemporaries:
81 read IL dispatch from Berlin the
other day th 1t bill has been introduced
into the Rsichstag TO suppress dueling,
especially what IL known Us the Amsri-
can method Now what 10 this Amsri-
can methods Il 1t tho gentle pastime of
fighting with knives in q dark room Is
1t the brief and sanguinary contest with
shOtguns at twenty paces' Or Is It the
informal duel Of the frontier, with its
brief cartel: I'll kill you on sight, and
whom you next come, come a shOotin'e
The cablegram is strangely silent on
this important point"
am in u position to inform you that
the American duh, as practiced on the
continent of Europe, and especially in
Germany. il neither brutal affray with
bowie knives in darkened room nor a
"blaze away" at short range; il Is some
thing more secret and terrible still, a
practice that has brought sorrow and
shame to the noblcst families and cut
short the career of the most promising
men; it is death, self inflicted death by
lot. Some time since the startling intel
ligence was published that Professor b.
of Berlin, a talented and highly esteemed
young, man had been found dead in his
room, with pistol tightly clasped in his
hand and a bullet hole in his forehead.
He had committed suicide. But what
could be the motive'
In easy IL not brilliant circumstances.
handsome and engaging, on the Threshold
of life, the highest hOnors within his
grasp, this young man goes to his last
account and leaves no trace to elucidats
the mystery. The world wonders for nine
days and then in the rush of rapidly pass.
ing events the incident is forgotten. For.
gotten save by one who knows aud few
sorrowing friends who conjecture.
The solution of the mystery Is to be
found in the American duel.
A love affair in which tws passionate,
high spirited young men lavish their at
teDUion upon the same lady; a deadly
insult offered and they conceive that the
world is not large enough to hold both.
One must die, and what surer and more
convenient method than to decide By lot
who shall take his own lifet
Tho two enemies face each other with
flashing eyes and burning cheek Words
have passed and insults offered which can
be drowned only in blood.
THB DECISION OF FATE.
90 be it. Let us step TO the window;
the street is quiet and deserted. Let US
observe the next pssserby. If the first
one t0 turn the corner be a man, it is
il it be a woman. death is your portion
death by your own hand and before the
sun rises again.
Pale and gloomy they stand side BY
side and await the doom sure to come
soon to one OF them. One, two, three
minutes pass; it is so still in the apart
ment the ticking Of a clock upon the
mantel sounds loud and near. Then 3
black shadow Is thrown across the walk
and-a woman moves around the corner,
her light footsteps sounding the death
knel of Professor B.
A slight shudder shakes the frame OF
tho doomed man and the pallor deepens
for q moment. Then proudly and coldly
he bows to his adversary: Fate ha.
selected me, Capt. A. You will heal
from me tomorrow"
And he is alone with his sad thoughts.
But tie clock beats out his life fast and
furious, and he has SO much to do ard
arrange before the rising sun shall look
upon his Hfeless corpse. He may put Lis
affairs in order, but he must not reveal
his fate. Honor aud the rules Of Ameri
can duel forbid it.
Thus perished one of the brightest and
most promising young men in the most
enlightened capital Of Europe in the lattsl
half Of the Nineteenth century, leaving
tho stain of suicide upon his name.
This II by no means sn isolated case, II
being well known that this method oi
dueling hss been resorted To only too fro
auentiy, and it 10 a sad fact that the best
and most honorable men have often boeu
tho victims-
While dueling will never and, for Oh
vious reasons, can never he wholly sup
pressed in a warlike ration like Germany
it Is TO be hoped that this bloody game OF
chance called the American duel mai
speedily be crushed and wiped QUIZ. G.